Manual:Professional Development:Verbal Communication

Effective Verbal Communications 9.01 The Telephone One of the most used means on contacting people in today’s society is the telephone. Sure everyone knows how to use it, but not many people use it effectively and in an organization such as STARFLEET and the SFMC it is important to know and use the telephone effectively. Below are techniques for effective use of the telephone. 9.01.1 General Techniques: These are general techniques that should be followed when making a telephone call. 9.01.2 Getting The Message Across: The whole purpose of calling people on the phone is to get information to or from the person you call. The best way to do this is to be prepared with a list of things you need to discuss before you call. Whether or not you get a live response or a machine, you will be prepared to get your message across. 9.01.3 Speak Clearly: Many people have a regional accent, or speak very fast or quietly, as a habit. Make a conscious effort to speak clearly. Do not yell, but make sure your voice can be heard distinctly. Speak with a smooth cadence, neither rushing nor hesitant. If you talk too fast, the person will misunderstand your message; speak too slow-ly and the answering machine will disconnect you. Even if it doesn’t cut you off, it is agonizing to some people to listen as someone spends five minutes saying what could be said in three. 9.01.4 Set A Time Limit: If you are on a budget for time or money, you should set a reasonable time limit of the length of call. Make sure you explain you have a time limit at the start of the conversation. 9.01.5 Following An Outline: If you have several topics to discuss, make an outline and discuss each topic in detail, one after the other. When you jump from topic to topic and back again, you make mistakes, confuse each other and often forget things. One at a time, follow the outline. 9.01.6 Summarizing The Conversation: If you are getting a lot of information, or giving it out, be sure to summarize the conversation to clarify any points. People often misunderstand what is said after a half hour or more of conversation. Summarizing the info is a good technique to prevent this. Simply say something like “OK, to review what I’ve said...” and then list the major points of your outline. 9.01.7 Closing The Conversation: Always close the conversation with courtesy. Thank the person for taking the time to talk to you, for providing you with the information you need, or for asking for information that you were glad to provide. If you intend to speak with them againin the near future, let them know when you’ll call back. PD MANUAL 30 9.02 Answering Machines and Voice Mail Lets face it we live in a world were most people now have answering machines or voice mail. It is a fact of life that you will often have to settle for leaving a message for someone instead of talking to them. This is espe-cially true for someone whom you have never spoken to via telephone before. 9.02.1 Be Prepared To Speak: Have your notes ready, and be ready to leave a message when the machine indicates it is recording (usually be either a beep or a series of tones). Remember that although many machines will record for as long as you speak, others give you only a set amount of time to call, usually a minute. Check the clock before you speak; if you are cut off before you finish speaking, you’ll have an idea how long you have to speak when you call back to finish the message. 9.02.2 Leave Phone Number And Time To Call: If you want the person to return your call or forward a message for you, leave a phone number with area code as well as the best time to call back. You would not believe how many people forget to leave their phone number (or address, if they want you to mail them something). 9.02.3 Time Stamp It: Some machines tell you when a call was received, some don’t. It is best to just assume that it does not so leave a time with your message, or a date and time if you think it may be a day to two before the message is received. This is an extremely important point that most people forget. 9.03 Face-to-Face Conversation Having a face-to-face conversation can be the toughest and most demanding form of verbal communication that anyone has to perform. Most of the difficulty arises from the situation in which you have to have the con-versation. Most people find that they are the most comfortable in small groups and can easily carry on a con-versation but have great difficulty when trying to converse with a large group. Of course there are those indi-viduals which just the opposite is true. But by far the most common problem that any individual has is speak-ing in front of large groups. In STARFLEET and the SFMC there is a good chance that at some time or anoth-er you will be called upon to speak in front of a large group, but it can be guaranteed that you will speak to a small group, such as you ship or MSG, regularly. While face-to-face conversation is mostly verbal there is also another component, body language. Body lan-guage can say more than what you are verbalizing, such as you are bored, uninterested, etc… without even verbalizing it. So you have to be extremely mindful of how you are using you body when engaged in a face-to-face conversation. Below are items that can help you in face-to-face conversations. 9.03.1 Small Groups: Know Your Audience: The most important thing to remember is to know your audience. This helps you determine the vocabulary, tone, and body language to use. It also enables you to relate to your audience. PD MANUAL 31 Be Careful of What You Say: You have to be mindful of what you say. Do not say anything that you don’t want repeated elsewhere or over-heard. Be Considerate: This is perhaps the biggest issue when talking to other people in small groups. Being considerate means that you; let the other person finish before you start, don’t fidget while being talked to, and don’t do anything that overtly shows your disinterest. Body Language: Body language can speak volumes about how interested you are in a conversation, as well as a multitude of other emotions. It is important that you be mindful of your body language. You don’t want to give the person you are speaking to the wrong impression. Be sure to maintain eye contact with those whom you are speak-ing to. Volume: Try to keep your conversations to an appropriate volume. There usually is no reason to shout. 9.03.2 Large Groups (Public Speaking): Know Your Audience: The most important thing to remember is to know your audience. This helps you determine the vocabulary, tone, and body language to use. It also enables you to relate to your audience. Be Careful of What You Say: You have to be mindful of what you say. Do not say anything that you don’t want repeated elsewhere or over-heard. Dress the Part: Certain speaking situations will call for more professional dress than others. Dressing well will often make you feel and look more confident, and may even add some credibility. The just-rolled-out-of-bed look is unlikely to impress your audience. Eye Contact: The audience connects with you through your eyes. Avoiding eye contact can be a red flag to the audience that you are not confident in what you are saying or that you are hiding something. Don’t focus your attention on one person, but instead spread your eye contact around to members of the audience. Body Language: When speaking to large groups body language is important. Movement represents confidence to the audi-ence. Too much movement, however, is a sign of nervousness. Try to avoid pacing or rocking back and forth. If you are speaking behind a podium, one tip you might try is, at an appropriate time in your speech move to the side of the podium. This shows the audience you are not “hiding” behind the podium. Remember not to slouch, standing straight projects confidence. Also be sure to use hand gestures, especially to emphasize a point, but you also don’t want to overdo it and distract the audience. If you are like most people and not sure PD MANUAL 32 what to do with your hands, the best rule of thumb is to limit your hand movement and don’t put them in your pockets. Also don’t be afraid to use facial expressions. If you know you are saying something funny, then smile. If you are talking about something serious, show a look of empathy. A stony face will make you seem aloof, while an expressive face can help you connect with the audience. Vary Your Voice: How you say something can be just as important as what you are saying. Pay attention to your tone and your speed. Don’t talk to fast. Do not yell and avoid the soft voice that can’t be heard. Use your pace and tone to emphasize important ideas. And always remember to vary both. Monotone and monospeed are two common pitfalls you want to avoid. Take Your Time: Take your time and allow everyone to absorb what you are saying. Public speaking is not a race. Start slow and if you see that your audience wants you to speak a little faster, then, and only then, start to pick up the pace. Also you may take a pause once a while. Pausing lets your audience think about your words. Try to pause after the most important points in your speech. Find a Friendly Face: When you deliver your speech, look for a friendly face. This will give you encouragement throughout your speech. Don’t stare at the person, but periodically look over for a little boost in confidence. Um and uh: These to “words” are the most common spacers used when speaking. Try to force yourself not to use these. Using these tends to show your audience that you don’t know what you are talking about and they will loose interest quickly.